


Scary Movie

by henry_amargosa



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Holding Hands, M/M, Movie Night, Scary Movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4005928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/henry_amargosa/pseuds/henry_amargosa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin's <a href="https://twitter.com/gavinmacintosh/status/601620080082878464">Poltergeist tweet</a> gave me an idea. Connor goads Jude into seeing a scary movie in the hopes of proving how brave he is, but then Connor is the one grabbing onto Jude during the movie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scary Movie

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't seen Poltergeist, and I barely skimmed the Wikipedia page describing the plot. So apologies for departures from the real-life film; they were made for dramatic purposes.

Jude and Connor were eating lunch on a Friday at Anchor Beach together. Daria and Taylor had just left them together at the table, and Connor was fidgeting in his seat. Jude knew that meant he wanted to talk about something but was having trouble bringing it up.

“You all right over there?” he said teasingly. He knew with a little prompting Connor would be able to talk about whatever was on his mind.

“Yeah,” he said, calming and going still. Connor turned to face Jude. “I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie tonight.”

Jude eased slightly, realizing Connor was just nervous about a date, not anything serious. “Yeah, that should be OK. I don’t see any reason moms wouldn’t let me go. Any particular movie?”

“Yeah, uh, I want to see Poltergeist.’”

“Oh,” Jude said. “A horror movie. Maybe we should tell my moms we’re seeing the Avengers again, they would believe that. What’s it rated?”

“It’s only PG-13. And, you know, we’re 14. So it’s cool.”

“OK,” Jude replied. “Sounds like fun.”

Connor’s face broke out into a full-fledged beam, the one he always got when Jude let him have his way. Connor even picked up the trash from Jude’s lunch to throw away with his own tray. Having a boyfriend certainly came with some pleasant perks, Jude thought to himself.

***

That night at the movie theater, as they stood in line to buy tickets, Connor turned to Jude.

“I heard this is really scary. Omar and Jake saw it last weekend and they said people were straight up screaming in the theater.”

Jude glanced over at Connor, then at the movie posted hanging on the wall nearby. He tilted his head and gave a little shrug. “Uh-huh, yeah.”

Connor’s eyes narrowed. “’Uh-huh, yeah’?” he asked. “What, like you won’t get scared?”

“I don’t, not at horror movies,” Jude said matter of factly. “Actually, I tend to find horror movies funny. Like, I laugh during them. It really annoys Callie. But they just don’t scare me. I don’t know why.”

“I can’t tell if you’re pulling my leg or not,” Connor said.

“The doctor said no pulling your leg for six months or the bullet wound won’t heal,” Jude fired back. They stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.

After he had recovered, Connor placed his arm around Jude’s shoulders, something he wasn’t sure he would be able to do for much longer if Jude continued to grow so quickly.

“Well, if you do get scared, don’t worry. I’ll be there for you,” Connor said.

Jude remained quiet and just nuzzled into the crook of Connor’s arm as the ticket line moved forward.

***

In the theater, Connor found a pair of seats together in the center of one section and the boys made their way toward them. Connor raised the barrier between the two seats before plunking down, a giant bucket of popcorn in his hand.

“What, no armrest?” Jude said, handing his boyfriend one of the sodas he was carrying.

“Oh, har har,” Connor said mockingly. “You’re going to bring that up every time we go to a movie, aren’t you?”

“Of course not,” Jude replied. “Just when we’re in movie theaters that have armrests.”

Connor threw a piece of popcorn at Jude, but he deflected it and it landed on the woman sitting in front of them. Jude tossed out a quick apology and took his seat, nudging up against Connor’s leg and arm as the lights dimmed. They enjoyed the previews, including one for the new Star Wars movie, and eventually the opening credits for “Poltergeist” started rolling.

Connor turned his head toward Jude and whispered, “Remember, if you get scared, I’m right here.” Jude only rolled his eyes in response. He hadn’t been messing with Connor; he really didn’t get scared at horror movies. The first time he had seen “Silent Hill” a few years back, his foster family had sent him out of the room because he was howling with laughter. The stuff that was supposed to be scary just struck him as hilarious. He didn’t know if the difficulties of living in the foster system had inured him against schlocky horror films, or if he was just wired differently, but Jude wasn’t very likely to feel fear tonight.

It didn’t take long for the movie to start dishing out the horror, and while Jude managed to keep his amusement to minimal levels at the beginning of the film, he noticed Connor kept jumping slightly whenever something startling happened on screen. It didn’t really mean anything; it was easy to be startled at these sorts of movies. But to be truly scared — that was something else.

Jude noted the movie followed the standard supernatural horror flick plot — scary stuff happens at the beginning, and then the movie lulls viewers into a false sense of security with 20 minutes setting up the rest of the movie and introducing the main characters. Connor noticeably relaxed during this part, and Jude kept accidentally-on-purpose brushing his hand against Connor when reaching for popcorn, each time smiling to himself.

Eventually the movie started showcasing scary things again, and as suspension built Connor shifted just a little bit closer to Jude, shaving off whatever gap had remained between them. A few minutes later, he grasped Jude’s hand gently, and when Jude looked over at Connor, his boyfriend just shot back a quick grin and returned his eyes to the screen. Jude’s eyes lingered a moment longer, and he looked back at the movie just as a creepy clown (admittedly a little disturbing, Jude admitted, but everybody found clowns disturbing) started chasing one of the characters. Connor’s hand tightened around Jude’s, and he jerked in his seat, hard enough to spill a few kernels of popcorn from the bucket. Jude wondered if Connor had a special dislike toward clowns, and he was so busy thinking about it that he nearly missed the next scary thing to happen — a tree pulling a child through a skylight. Jude broke out in a wide smile as he watched the faux carnage playing out on screen, but when he looked over at Connor, he saw his eyes crinkle in fear as he gripped his hand even harder, almost painfully now.

A light bulb flicked on in Jude’s head. Connor was scared of ‘Poltergeist.’ That was the point, it was the false fear of a horror flick, but he was actually scared, Jude realized. All that bravado before, even suggesting this movie in the first place, and it was Jude acting as the anchor for Connor? Jude mulled this for a moment, his head tilted to one side, as he faced a crossroads. He could tease Connor about it — and potentially hurt his boyfriend’s feelings — or he could just lean in.

Jude chose to lean in. Or more specifically, lean to his side.

He started squeezing back when Connor released his grip a little. Jude grabbed the now-forgotten bucket of popcorn and placed it on the floor, out of their way, and he reached over with his far hand so that both hands were around Connor’s. Jude’s boyfriend was so engrossed in the carnage he didn’t seem to notice Jude taking advantage of the opportunity to get closer.

By the time the credits rolled, Jude and Connor had practically fused into one unit. Jude had rested his head against Connor’s shoulder, which Connor apparently took as a sign that Jude was nuzzling up against him in fear.

“See,” Connor said as the cast and crew names floated past in front of them and the audience started making their way out of the theater. “You’re holding my hand pretty hard there. You were definitely scared.”

“Yeah, OK, you got me, Connor,” Jude said, his head still resting on Connor’s shoulder. “That was a scary movie.”

Through his peripheral vision Jude could see Connor smirk a little, and Jude decided he didn’t want to play into this role after all. He pulled away from his boyfriend and was about to set the record straight when one of those “surprise scream” things happened in the credits. The sudden noise made those left in the theater yelp in surprise — including Connor, who screeched and grabbed Jude’s torso into a tight hug, his head buried under Jude’s left arm.

“Uh, Con?” Jude said, his arms held up awkwardly as Connor was wrapped around him in fright.

“OK, that was scary,” Connor admitted, his voice muffled as his mouth was up against Jude’s t-shirt. After a moment he pulled back, eyeing the screen warily and pointedly not making eye contact with Jude.

“So remember when you said that if I got scared, you’d be there for me?”

“Oh, shut up!” a blushing Connor shot back, giving Jude’s arm a little punch. Jude just giggled, and Connor turned even deeper red before leaning over to engulf his boyfriend in a quick but passionate kiss, one hand on the back of Jude’s head to draw in his boyfriend.

That put a stop to Connor’s fright and embarrassment, and Jude’s amusement. After a few moments they pulled apart and looked into one another’s eyes.

“We should watch scary movies more often,” Jude said. Connor just smiled.


End file.
